Technical Innovation in Phase-Change UV Ink for High-Speed Digital Printing

Abstract

Phase-change UV ink has been developed as a technology to suppress the coalescence of ink droplets in high-speed printing and to achieve fast drying. Phase-change UV ink is in a liquid state at high temperatures, but as soon as it hits the paper, it cools, the wax added to the ink crystallizes, and the ink change a gel state. However, the cooled wax precipitates on the image surface, reducing the suitability for varnishing and lamination. Therefore, by observing the surface of the image using atomic force microscopy (AFM) and evaluating the relationship between the type of wax, gelation, and surface properties, we succeeded to select the optimal wax and formulation of the ink. It is expected that inkjet applications will continue to develop further with advances in technology to improve image quality and post-processing.